MLB Power Rankings: 2/27/2025

For many years, I blogged over on the (now defunct) Sporting News website.  One of the features that I ran on that site was my weekly MLB Power Rankings.  There was a time when I did some Power Rankings here at Nachos Grande as well, but that was nearly a decade ago.  With Spring Training finally underway for the new season, I figured this was a perfect time to revive an old favorite blog topic!

MLB Power Rankings:  2/27/25

1. Los Angeles Dodgers:  I'm not sure there exists anyone who follows baseball that doesn't have the Dodgers at the top of the pile, at least on paper.  With a deferred payroll of over a BILLION dollars, anything short of being #1 all season will have to be considered a failure for Los Angeles.  
2. Atlanta Braves:  The Braves don't spend like the Dodgers but if there's any NL team that could upset LA, I'm picking Atlanta.
3. New York Yankees:  The "Evil Empire" strikes back with another loaded roster in what appears to be a slightly weaker AL East than in recent years.  
4. Texas Rangers:  Manager Bruce Bochy seems to go to the World Series ever other year and this is his year.
5. Philadelphia Phillies:  The Phillies still have enough power to play with anyone, but right now it's hard to look at their roster and put it above either the Braves or the Dodgers in the National League.
6. Arizona Diamondbacks:  My darkhorse pick for the NL crown, I don't think Arizona wins the division but they are probably the one Wild Card team you won't want to face when the playoff seeding is announced.
7. Houston Astros:  Their myriad of scandals behind them, Houston looks reloaded and ready to rumble in the AL West.  As I see it, only Texas stands in the way of another West crown.
8. Baltimore Orioles:  The Orioles' young talent from a few years ago is now entering their prime, this could be a make-or-break type year for Baltimore.
9. New York Mets:  I have no idea what to make of the Mets, are they a Top 10 team this year?  Projections seem to say yes, but the Mets have a long history of underperforming.
10. San Diego Padres:  *see the Mets' description one spot above here*
11. Toronto Blue Jays:  I'd like to see Toronto do well this year and I think they have the roster to compete with almost anyone.  However, they don't have a lot of wiggle room and can't afford massive injuries or poor performances from their "big boys" in the lineup.
12. Milwaukee Brewers:  By all accounts, the NL Central looks to be a burning trash heap of a division in 2025.  The Brewers seemingly made their team worse over the offseason and yet they are still my pick to win the division.
13. Minnesota Twins:  The NL Central probably won't be great this year but I think the AL Central has a chance to be even worse.  For me, the ceiling of the AL Central is the Twins & Guardians and I expect Minnesota to have the slight edge.  
14. Chicago Cubs:  It appears that most projections have the Cubs as the winners of the NL Central, not the Brewers.  All I can say is that I'll believe it when I see it.  The Cubs, much like the Mets, seem to mostly underperform so I'm not going to hold my breath expecting greatness, not yet at least!
15. Cleveland Guardians:  I believe most folks have either Cleveland or Minnesota winning the AL Central this year.   I tend to give the edge to the Twins, but it should be a close race.
16. Kansas City Royals:  I think if I had my way, I'd have the Royals beat out both Minnesota and Cleveland this year.  I'm a huge fan of Bobby Witt, Jr. (he's been my fantasy league keeper for a few years now).  That's really all I need to have a firm rooting interest in this division!
17. Seattle Mariners:  I've always had a soft spot for the Mariners, going all the way back to the days of Ken Griffey, Jr., Jay Buhner, and Randy Johnson.  I don't think they'll win the division, but I'd be happy if they at least keep it competitive all year.
18. Tampa Bay Rays:  You should never count out Tampa but I have to believe the stadium issue will cause problems for the Rays, they'll never really feel "at home" all season and it's a long season.  Then again, for all I know the Rays' management has some newfangled way of measuring players based on who has no personal concept of homesickness or something.
19. Detroit Tigers:  Someone has to be in the middle of the pack and the Tigers kind of epitomize that right now.
20. St. Louis Cardinals:  It seems like St. Louis is actively trying to tank and yet their players won't quite let the team plummet to the bottom.  Maybe it's more that the bottom of the division has been filled with the likes of the Reds and Pirates and that's a big hole to dig!
21. Los Angeles Angels:  Are the Angels the team that's spent the most money over the years with the least return on investment?  How did this team have Ohtani and Trout and not win it all at least once?!
22. Boston Red Sox:  I'm hard-pressed to see how Boston can finish anywhere but fifth in their division this year.  
23. Pittsburgh Pirates:  Skenes is enough for me to put the Pirates above my Reds, at least for now.
24. Cincinnati Reds:  The Reds' ownership hasn't truly cared or been willing to field a winning team for ages.  Sure, the hiring of Francona is nice but even the best manager needs several good players to make something happen.  I'd love to be wrong about the Reds but years of hope pinned on "maybe everything will go right" has truly worn me down.  I think most Reds fans are to the point now of "prove it."
25. San Francisco Giants:  At least they aren't the Rockies?!  The NL West looks to be a three-team race at the top and I fear the Giants and Rockies will take the brunt of the punishment.  The other three teams will all feel the need to go for sweeps every time they play either San Fran or Colorado.
26. Washington Nationals:  The big question here is who will be worse: the Marlins or Nationals?  I don't expect either team to be out of the bottom five teams when all is said and done this year so it probably doesn't much matter who is only slightly better than the other super sucky team.
27. Miami Marlins:  *see the Nationals above*
28. Oakland Athletics:  MLB's second "homeless" team for the year.  The A's have two or three decent players but it's hard to envision this being a fun season for the team formerly known as Oakland.
29. Chicago White Sox:  I watched a spring training game where the White Sox gave up something like six runs in the first inning and the fans were saying "the White Sox are in mid-season form already."  If that doesn't sum up this year's White Sox, I don't know what does.
30. Colorado Rockies:  A bad team stuck in a division with three playoff contenders does not make for a great recipe for the Rockies.  Truthfully, I'd expect Colorado to beat the likes of Oakland and the White Sox but I think the NL West is so much stronger than the other divisions that Colorado's record will take more of a hit than either the A's or Sox.  

So there you have it, my initial Power Rankings.  Of course, Spring Training has only just begun and lots of things can change between now and the time the real games start.  That said, as a big Reds fan the fact that I can only put my Reds in spot #24 is a sad state affairs for yours truly.